On Top Of The Rent
by Foxissofoxy
Summary: When life goes haywire and questionable decisions made on a whim are similar to desperate times call for desperate measures...Michonne and Rick. AU/OOC. Not in sequential order.
1. What Are You Doing, Michonne?

12% of people marry because they are completely in love. 88% of people marry just so they are then liable for only half of their rent.

**Mokokoma Mokhonoana**

* * *

Truth be told...I was one paycheck away from disaster. I had left my baby's father, and for a while, I thought I could juggle everything on my own. I was a full-time student and paralegal at a small law firm. I had a beautiful apartment with all utilities included. On top of everything, it was in a very safe part of town, two bedrooms, no bugs, cold air condition when it was hot, and sufficient heat when it was cold. I had paid the rent in advance. Money from my Universal Life policy that was taken out by my mother years ago allowed me to borrow from its cash value.

My ex Mike and I split custody of our son Andre where it was more beneficial for me to have him in the evening every other night. The night of the car accident was enough to cause my life to careen out of control. Not only had I lost my job, my ability to continue my education, but I had also virtually lost my mind.

"Honey, everyone else knows the rent is paid downstairs. I have a drop slot for it. You have been the only one I have to make a personal visit to ensure I don't have to put the eviction notice up for this month." Ms. Ella placed my eviction notice back on the clipboard to take my envelope full of cash.

"Are we done, Ms. Ella?" I had asked. I had been itching to slam the door on her face but thought better of it. She was the landlord, and I was late with scrounging up enough money to barely pay the rent that she was eager to collect. She knew I had lost my son, and her sympathy was long gone, including her patience for me to find my mind again.

"I have my son, Richard who has moved in with his Fiancee. They have that empty apartment next to mine. They have been moving their things all day today. I am going to make sure he makes himself known to everyone. He is expected to go on the police force soon. In the meantime, he will help around here with the maintenance of any kind. It won't just be Eugene."

"Your son?" I had an idea who she was possibly talking about. The asshole blocked my parking spot with his big ass U-haul truck. I honked. He wasn't apologetic. His Fiancee called me a bitch, and I flipped them both off a very forceful bird.

"Richard Sinclaire Grimes. His sweet, beautiful Fiancee's name is Lori Loraine Talbert. They will be married in less than three months." Ms. Ella boasted. She counted the envelope filled with cash. It was the amount of the rent to include the 25.00 dollars late fee. "Rent is due on the first."

A few days later, Ms. Ella had a stroke. I was in a near celebratory mood, thinking this would buy me some time to come up with the rent. It did not. Her son, Richard, was at my door with a rolled-up eviction. I had him step inside.

"What are you doing, Michonne?"

My hands were already undoing his belt, unfastening his jeans.

"What do you think I'm doing?"

There was a long pause. Enough time for him to reconsider the sudden unexpected territory he had wandered into due to my extensive planning seconds before his arrival. Not once did he protest or stop me from pulling down his pants and underwear. Both he had stepped out of while using his eyes to ask what was blatantly apparent once I guided him to sit his bare ass on my couch. I opened a condom. There wasn't much I needed to do to slide it down because he was entirely at full throbbing attention. I wanted to look at it in better lighting, being it my first vibrant pink, but the condom and my need to buy time were imperative.

I slid down my panties. Rick's eyes were wide and focused on the act of my undressing. I stepped out of the only item I had on other than my white silk robe.

The moment I moved to straddle him, he let go of the eviction notice. His hands grabbed my waist, instantly halting my actions. His blue eyes locked again with my own. There was less uncertainty than compared to seconds ago when he had first asked. I may have deluded myself into believing that he and I were vibing in our interactions of recent and if he had turned me down I would not have been surprised. White men were known to have a last-minute conscious as demonstrated on the Walking Dead.

"What are you doing, Michonne?"

"Paying the rent."

* * *

A/N: I've been working. Hate my job but I love to write! Patience with the other story... this is to prove to MJ what a mountain looks like.

Update A/N: 10/20/19. If you are new or have been avoiding my stories because you are accustomed to a certain style, i will make this solemn promise, You will more than likely find a headache here. There isn't a straight line. Just layers on top of layers, connecting somehow or someway to equal, Richonne.


	2. Continuation of Chapter 1

"Surrendering is intentionally laying down the power I possess. And have I considered that the power I lay down is often more powerful than that which I'm laying it down in front of? Therefore, I would be wise to recognize that surrender is less the absence of power and more the presence of fear."

**― Craig D. Lounsbrough**

* * *

_"Paying the rent."_

"My fiancee is downstairs." He had warned. His apartment was directly below my own. We were having sound issues. Mostly coming from me.

"Don't worry, I won't keep you long."

I had then forced myself down on his projected member without insuring my own proper lubrication. I wanted to get it over with and done. I tried to ride him in hopes it was worth the two hundred dollars I was short in the rent. He was thicker than my ex. He was longer too. Circumcised.

He hissed when I tried to get my pussy to accept the fact there wasn't going to be any foreplay, just straight fucking. His hands were still glued to my waist, and not once did he venture to squeeze my ass, or suck my tit, or kiss me. He kept his eyes mostly locked on my face. Every time I opened my eyes I could tell he was into it. He hadn't made any other sound since the initial one.

After two minutes, I began to loosen up. I began to find my pace the more I increased and slowed. For one straight minute, I only allowed his latex covered tip before plunging down to the base. His response was noticeable to both acts because his eyes were glued to watching what he could see before engaging me with a look becoming more hooded and less focused. Still, no sound other than his breathing becoming denser. I found myself charting the time and speed of my own impending orgasm due to his allowing me to discover what I needed without his active participation.

Five minutes later, I couldn't control where I was headed. I felt as if I were being carried away by a massive wave. I stifled myself from calling out, barely keeping mute. Only a strained whisper directly in his ear had escaped me as my body shook. "Dammmn, babbbby!" I had cried out into his ear. I was afraid to look at him again. I was bare, open to him. It was unexpected. I was ashamed. Was this worth paying the rent?


	3. I Need A Loan

"Much like life, you don't complete a puzzle by throwing away the pieces."  
**― Craig D. Lounsbrough**

* * *

My hands were frozen on her hips. I was in utter shock. A situation like this happening to me was highly unlikely, but it was being perpetuated into my reality rather unexpectedly. Quite frankly, it was possibly a sign of where my head was for the last few days before going up to collect the overdue rent.

A couple of times, my Fiancee Lori had caught me checking out the Tennant who lived above us. I've had a few dealings with Michonne. Like the time she had tires removed from a twenty-two dollar a day Meryl's rental car and had them put on her car. Meryl was in a murderous mood and so was I when he came at Michone with a crowbar after she stabbed him with her pocket knife. Yeah...

Michonne made a lot of noise. Her vibrator was every other day. The amount of noise Michonne made would disturb Lori's need for sleep. The sporadic sounds were enough to send a message to me. Michonne would stomp, slam cabinets doors, or increase the volume of her television. It was a signal in the third and fourth months for me to GET UP because she was waiting. By the time I got back to my own apartment, Lori was usually fast asleep.

"What do you want now?" Michonne sighed at the sight of seeing me standing on the other side of her apartment door.

"Can you make up your mind? It is after 2 am. Why aren't you asleep?"

"Not tired." Michonne wore the look of a woman who had nothing but time to be an annoying nuisance.

"Well, my Fiancee is tired. She is trying to rest." I whispered in case anyone could hear our conversation in the hallways. "You are making things blatantly obvious by having me up here as often as I am, you know?"

"My problem, how?"

"Do you give my mother this amount of trouble?"

"Does your mother want to sleep with me?"

"My mother?"

"I sleep better with someone next to me. I haven't had someone next to me in a very long time. I have a vacancy. Would have to be gainfully employed. Not a felon. Attractive. And have big dick energy."

"Big dick energy?"

I watched her eyes travel down to my wayward member between my legs, slightly bulging from watching her lips move and listening to the words that spilled forth with abandon.

"I sense it is what leads you here, each and every time?"

"It is the noise you are making." I protested.

Her brown eyes were locked with mine. The open door and the threshold between her and I was the only line visible. Twice was it ever crossed, once to fix her leaky pipe, and the second time was to collect the rent.

* * *

_"Damn, Baabbby."_

Upon hearing and feeling her warm lips on my ear, I had suddenly encountered my own release that flooded the now used condom supplied by her. There wasn't any control I could muster. I had to allow the eventual silence to take over.

"Aaahhhahhhh."

Quietly she lifted herself off of me and went into her bathroom. I quickly slipped the condom off with no idea what to do with it, evidence of cheating on Lori would remain covered by paper towels buried deep in Michonne's kitchen trash can. I got dressed and took the eviction notice with me.

I had left. I went down to my apartment, where Lori was on the phone with our wedding planner. I was relieved she was distracted. I took a shower.

The second and third month was the same thing. I found myself accepting how Michonne wanted to pay the rent until it began to show a pattern to Lori of money, leaving our wedding savings account. I had to turn to Shane.

"What's going on?"

"I need a loan."

"Why?"

"I got myself into something."

"Like what?"

"Paying someone's rent," I admitted. I could trust Shane with any and everything.

"Whose rent?"

"Hers."

I had finally completed the academy. With strings pulled by Shane, we were partnered up. He was on the force much longer than me and had enough sway in the Sheriff's department.

Shane knew who I was talking about. We were sitting in the parking lot when Michonne was leaving in her older model Honda Accord with stolen tires.

"There are only three reasons a man would pay a woman's rent, you are either fucking her, you don't plan to stop fucking her, or you're trying to keep who you **are** fucking from telling Lori?"

"The last one," I admitted readily.

"It has to stop."

"I know. It has."

"It has?" Shane questioned after counting out the money before handing it over.

"It has not."

"You are so fucked."

"I am."


	4. On Time

"If we're saying 'no' to God, have we considered what we're saying 'yes' to?"  
**― Craig D. Lounsbrough**

* * *

I needed the next three months to live practically rent-free and without the added stressor from Ms. Ella. I knew it was wrong to think of the old landlord's health condition as Karma. The help of the insurance policy, finally paying out, helped me from having my life further spiral out of control.

Knock Knock Knock.

I answered my apartment door. I was surprised to see him standing there.

"What's going on?" He had asked me.

"What do you mean?"

"You paid the rent for this month."

"Problem?"

"On time."

"Make sure your mother knows that."

"Why?"

"Maybe it will help with her rehab?"

"Not what I am asking. Why did you pay it on time?"

"Because it was due."

"It was due for the last four months."

"If it wasn't transactional I would almost agree with you."

"What the fuck is going on, Michonne?"

"I'm not sure, Rick. You are the one at my door as if I owe you something."

"You do. An explanation."

"Regarding?"

"I'm sticking my neck out." He spoke through clenched teeth.

"Not sure why then or now. Especially with an annoying ass Fiancee who is bound to put two and two together. All she has to do is stop for a long enough second between flower arrangements and invitation RSVP-"

"Why, do you plan to tell?"

"No. You will." I tried to close the door right in his face, but he had stopped it from happening.

Rick had grabbed me as he stepped quickly over the threshold, kicking the door with the back of his foot. His mouth was over mine, taking away my breath and any rational thought. We bypassed the couch. My bed is where we landed, spending a considerable amount of time kissing while feverishly fucking each other recklessly.


	5. What's Eating You?

"It hurts that I was just one page in the book of your life…  
But what hurts more is knowing you'll revise that chapter someday… and you'll erase me completely."  
**― Ranata Suzuki**

* * *

Michonne was all I thought about, morning, noon, and night. There were so many questions, and only a few were answered by my mother, who was eighty percent healthy. My mother contributed her miraculous turnaround all to Lori's frequent visits. It was a gibe that I couldn't ignore but tried to out of respect, which more than likely gave my mother the impression she was right, if I had visited as much as Lori, she would be one hundred percent cured.

I still had Michonne's scent and juices all over me. When I opened the door to my apartment, Lori and my mother both were waiting for me to head towards them to provide a proper greeting. I could not with knowing where I had my face.

It was only moments ago that Michonne and I were interrupted by Eugene, who appeared outside of her bathroom with his toolbox in one hand and the leaky pipe in the other. I had abruptly left to seek refuge in my own apartment. I was embarrassed to have an actual witness who had caught me happily humming between the softest chocolate thighs known to man.

"Where have you been, son?" My mother had asked.

"Hi, honey." Lori greeted from across the room, fussing over my mother's comfort on our couch.

The mere sight of Lori AND my mother in the apartment together caught me off guard. I froze. "When did you get discharged?" I had asked.

"Your mother was discharged today. If you were listening, you would have known, honey. I'd even called you. Shane too."

I began to sweat. "What did Shane tell you, Lori?"

"He was surprised you didn't tell me where you were since you weren't at work. He figured **_I_ **being your rib that I should know where and when my other half is being nibbled on."

"For heaven's sake that Shane needs to spend more time in church to understand Adam and Eve." My mother declared.

"Mother Ella, can you even imagine Shane stepping foot in a church?" Lori laughed at the idea. I could only bring about a weak smile and a half nod when Lori glanced my way.

"It would be a sight. What's nibbling you, son?" My mother took advantage of the term that gnashed at my soul.

"Shane," I spoke his name, utterly absent from context to slow or stall my mother's ability to hone into when I have gotten myself into some shit. I would need my Dad to get me out of this if I were looking to extricate myself from Michonne's unfathomable ability to keep me entranced in her shenanigans. But if I were trying to go in the opposite direction of the woman who lived above, it would be my father with a plan to successfully help me fall off the face of the earth. My Dad wasn't around. He was more than likely off the coast of some island, enjoying someone younger than my mother but older than Lori but not by much.

"It's all over your face, son!" My mother pressed.

"Oh, God." I declared desperately.

"I've known you longer than you've known me, son. Might as well spit it out."

"I swallowed."

I was cracking.

I was going to be sick. This dilemma had been weighing on me like a toy Anchor trying to slow the Titantic from the inevitable. I was sinking fast. Shane was the only one aware that I was going to end things with Lori today because it was challenging to keep myself from who I wanted to sink my teeth into when she playfully had her ass up in the air. Yes, I wholeheartedly enjoyed what I consumed greedily just moments ago. And because I allowed those two words to tumble out of my mouth meant I was still under the effects of Michonne. My need to get to the bathroom was imperative.

"Tell me what's eating you." My mother insisted. Lori became more noticeably concerned.

"The wedding." I began to admit.

"What about the wedding?"

"So much has happened — all the waiting. Reasons to wait. None of it makes sense. We've been together since high school. More than nine years later. The waiting-."

"You want to move it up?" Lori sat more erect.

I took note of Lori's ability to only see straight ahead, goal post, forward or back, still meant marriage was on the table. No exceptions.

If I had agreed, our wedding plans would've sped up with fewer guests than initially proposed. It was only then I began to put the brakes on my continued participation in what wasn't going to happen. I was done with any additional feedback with planning, or talk, including hiding, disguising and gaslighting. I was taking the bull by the horns.

"Michonne is pregnant."

Lori and my mother both wore the same expression, unsure why they should care or what concern they both should demonstrate by what I declared to be true. What was needed was an additional detail that not only was Michonne pregnant, but I was the father. This detail could have quickly put my mother back in the hospital and Lori to see me for who I indeed was, imperfect and unworthy of such level of trust. Instead, "I have to go to the bathroom."

I made my exit.


	6. Knock, Knock, Knock!

"Anyone who is observant, who discovers the person they have always dreamed of, knows that sexual energy comes into play before sex even takes place. The greatest pleasure isn't sex, but the passion with which it is practiced. When the passion is intense, then sex joins in to complete the dance, but it is never the principal aim."  
**― Paulo Coelho**

* * *

Rick was knocking it out of the park. Every single time we were together.

The first month just once, even though I was highly suspicious when I caught him a couple of times in the hall a few feet from my door. He would pretend to care about whatever and I pretended to not see him. Every time I made my return back to my apartment I was more than pleased there still wasn't a notice to evict hanging outside my door.

Eventually, it was in the way he would knock, the light rap, and how his eyes stated his true intentions or reason for being at my door with my favorite pizza or a sandwich from Mabel's Cafe. The moment he came inside with some groceries, I knew it was a wrap. I just waited for him to tell me what exactly was going on between us, outside of the rent. He kept that close to his chest. I had to guess from his actions.

"What is all this for?" I had asked.

"For cooking. Eating. You decide." He had shrugged.

Once he was gone, all I could do was stare inside my once practically bare refrig and cabinets. I now had a carton of milk, two dozen eggs, a loaf of bread, butter, cooking oil, 2 packs of hamburger, 5 small packages of chicken, a couple of jars of sauce, canned veggies, oatmeal, and sugar. On the counter were my favorite cookies, Pepperidge Farm cookies, crispy milk chocolate chip, and a big kat bar. I cried happy tears.

Then a couple of weeks later a steady knock that sounded, I BETTER OPEN UP.

"Who's here?" Rick asked peering over my shoulder.

"No one."

"I could hear a man's voice."

"Any louder people will hear yours, Rick." I had warned.

"I'm going to ask you again, who is here in your apartment with you?"

"There was a guy. He's gone now."

"What did you do? Did you fuck him for the rent?"

I raised my hand to slap him. Rick had caught my wrist. So I hit him with my other hand.

"How fucking dare you? My rent is paid. By you. Any other person I decide to fuck will have nothing to do with keeping a roof over my head. It will have everything to do with my choice, my body, my fucking decision. Just as it is your choice, your body and decision to continue your fucking facade with your Fiancee."

"Leave her out of it." He growled.

"Trust me, not hard for either of us to do."

"Why do I allow you to make me crazy?"

"You are already crazy. Now let me go before I scream." He had released my wrist.

"Are you fucking anyone else?"

"No."

"Who was here?"

"A friend."

"A friend?"

"Yeah."

He moved forward and crossed my threshold. I had closed my door behind him. I knew Rick was highly suspicious. He was determined to know the truth.

Rick inhaled my skin. He started with my neck and my chest. He had suddenly gone down on his knees and continued his journey to sniff out any intruder hiding their essence. I was clean. He eagerly ate my pussy, causing me to go into complete submission. I had completely forgotten all about Eugene being the guy still in my apartment.


	7. 200, Maybe 500, Definitely Not 1800!

"THINGS YOU NEVER HEAR: 'Please stop sucking my dick or I'll call the police."  
**― George Carlin, Brain Droppings**

* * *

The first month, Michonne was two hundred dollars short on the rent. The quick, spontaneous lap ride cost me 200.00 dollars to help make up the difference Michonne didn't have in the envelope.

The second month, the second envelope only had a store coupon for one box of Trojan.

Not a cashier's check or any cold hard cash. Just a Coupon...

Fifty percent off a box of 12 condoms. How often did Michonne think I was going to continue to pay her rent?

This was an eye-opener. I had to let Michonne know that in no uncertain terms was I paying the full amount. 200 yes. 1800, hell no. I didn't care that she rode me the first month and repeating the same act the second month where she lasted a little bit longer before I followed suit.

The sex on the couch was nowhere near 500 dollar level.

I didn't care if I startled Michonne while she was showering. I remained in the bathroom doorway.

"The rent is 1800." I had informed quite gruffly.

"I know. I've been paying it for more than a year now."

"What the fuck do you call this?" I waved the envelope that had no money inside.

"Savings. The coupon will expire soon."

"What are you implying?"

"Safe sex."

"I'm not going to continue to fuck around with you, Michonne." I'd threatened.

"Condoms are not just for who you are fucking, Mr. Substitute Landlord Grimes. It is also for who you are sexing."

"The difference?"

"You are fucking Lori. You are trying to sex me. I am not allowing your secret motive to interfere with our strictly transactional relationship. I am setting clear boundaries. The fine print."

"Never disrespect my Fiancee." My tone was every bit of stern.

"Unless my rent is overdue, don't you ever knock on my door as if this pussy belongs to you."

I was speechless. I was angry. I had to make a damn point before it became hard to remember why I was not going to pay $1800.00 IN FULL FOR HER RENT.

"Listen, do you really think what happened out there was going to have me just fork over all of your rent? Think again, Michonne."

"Wishful thinking on my part, huh?"

"Damn straight." I stood my ground, unable to tear my eyes off her sudsy tits.

The sex in the bathroom. In Michonne's shower...

I didn't even have to come up with an explanation for why I was soaking wet when I arrived back at my apartment. I was drenched, and it didn't take much for Lori to realize it the moment she was about to embrace me.

"Why are you so wet, honey? What happened?"

"Wet from fooling around with that leaky pipe in apartment 209, I strongly believe is the reason," Eugene had answered for me after magically appearing outside of our bathroom with a tool-box in one hand and a wrench in the other.


	8. Whim?

_"Instead of a feeling, think of love as an action. The feeling of love comes and goes on a whim; you can't control it. But the action of love is something you can do, regardless of how you are feeling." _

**― Russ Harris**

* * *

I swung open my apartment door after checking the peephole. No, hello, hey, hi...He was really confused about who he was fucking versus sexing. I let it slide for another day now that he was bold enough to come to me without a valid reason outside of the rent.

"I was thinking-."

"And why should I care?"

"Well, it's about the rent-"

"What day is this, Rick?"

"What do you mean?"

"Am I losing my damn sense of time again?" I stepped back into my apartment to grab my cellphone, practically panic-stricken while he stood in the doorway of my apartment.

"I wanted to make a suggestion to you about maybe downsizing, Michonne."

"What?"

"If you can't afford to live here, I think the next best thing is to find a place more budget-friendly. Maybe a relative you can stay with for a while until you can get back on your feet."

"Did you pay my rent?" I needed verbal reassurance he took care of my rent for the second time.

"If I didn't?"

"Then I will need to heed your great advice, and in doing so, I will make sure to have a conversation with your fiancee that her dream husband is a coward, an ass, and a weasel."

"How am I a coward, an ass, and a weasel?"

"You're a coward for not ending things with her. You are an ass man, and how I know, you keep your eyes fixated on mine. You are a weasel because you are still trying to sex me."

"I am not trying to sex you, Michonne."

"Then what are you holding in your hands, Rick?"

"Nothing." He held his palms up.

My goal was to point out to him if he had my eviction notice in his hands, then maybe I would've believed his ruse for making an unexpected visit.

"You are a weasel!"

"Any louder?"

"Weasel." I lowered my volume.

"God." He scoffed, shaking his head in denial.

"I will tell your future wife. Is that what you wanted to know? Is that your reason for being one step inside of my apartment right now, Rick? Providing me with options because-"

"I don't want any misunderstandings." He insisted.

"So, you do understand what is considered in the fine print?"

"Yes. You've mentioned reporting. I am talking about options."

"Okay."

"Will you have the rent?"

"Are you asking me to predict the future?"

"You were a week late, Michonne. You will have less than a week to have the rent."

"Or?"

"You will need to make some type of arrangements."

"Really?" I tried to size up this valid legal lawful threat tossed my way.

"Really."

There was a very long pause between us. It was pregnant and ready to give birth to some powerful nuggets of truth.

Rick began, "1800, Michonne? It would be obvious to take it out of my account. I can't continue at that price."

"So, it is more about affordability and less about quality?" There was just no way I was going to allow him to downplay my pussy power if he were to veer there.

"Yes."

"What do you suggest?"

Rick's eyes became a darker blue, while his face lit with traces of reds and pinks along his masculine jawline with a splotch on his Adam's apple.

"I don't want to sound too forward, Michonne."

"Am I about to understand why you have been hanging outside my door for the last few days?"

"1800 should have me at a whim level."

"Whim?" His word choice emphasized by me.

"Problem with that?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"My pussy isn't whimsical."

* * *

A/N: I am back to juggling. I love MJ and everyone else who has left a review or just views in general. It helps to keep me on my toes or should I say fingers on the keyboard for this story and others. All I Need. Honey Bee (needs a rewrite), He's Banging...

Also, I had failed again with my disclaimer about nonsequential order but if anyone made it this far...you definitely get it by taking in the times the rent has been paid starting with the amount of 200 being the first time sex.


	9. Fuzzy Math

"Some people are pragmatists, taking things as they come and making the best of the choices available. Some people are idealists, standing for principle and refusing to compromise. And some people just act on any whim that enters their heads.

I wonder which one YOU are.

I pragmatically turn my whims into principles!"  
**― Bill Watterson, It's a Magical World**

* * *

_"My pussy isn't whimsical..."_

I was determined to keep my myself dick-deep and molested of all my financial resources fooling around with Michonne. I didn't care if her pussy wasn't whimsical, or whimsy, I was adamant that at the price I was paying, I should have more access, whenever I fancied shagging or using Michonne's word, Sexing. Eighteen hundred dollars entitled me to more than just once. She was short again on the rent, well, she didn't have it, and I didn't bother with the flat envelope on the kitchen counter. Because of this, I began to be a bit bolder. Before I knew it, I was falling in love.

"Help me out here, partner! I need to understand this fuzzy fucking math!"

"How was I to know that Lori would get involved?"

"She is the type to take charge. I wouldn't exactly describe Lori like the meek kind with their head in the sand. You've got the ballsy kind that speaks on behalf of the guy who lacks the balls to show her who's the fucking boss. You ain't got the kind that doesn't give a shit. You've got ballsy. The kind of woman that uses _we_ are sick, _we_ are happy, _we_ are pregnant, and _WE_ want _OUR_ money back."

"Fuck." I was beginning to perspire. It was not only warm outside, but I was also roasting in my self appointed hot seat.

"You, my friend get to have sex with a woman that is not your fiancee on my damn dime! Congratulations!"

"How is it you're the victim?"

"I am Fucked. Not you, me."

"What in the hell do you mean?" I glanced around us as we were having this conversation out in the open in the parking lot outside the station.

"For the God damn life of me, I can't make shit sense of this fucking math, my friend. This is the kind of shit I had to pull out a piece of paper. This is what I do know, Amazing pussy in Apt 209, costs you $1800.00. You ask me to loan you $900.00 last month and again this month. I'm out $1800.00. Total. I get a call from Lori saying you took out $900.00 from your account last month and again this month to loan to me. You loaned me $1800.00. Total. Now, out of that very gracious heart you both share, Lori, says you both will accept nothing less than $300.00 dollars every two weeks to pay back what was loaned to me. I think if I was given $900.00 for the last month and the 900 for this month, I would say we are square. Now, if I loaned you $1800, and Lori wants me to pay back $1800.00 without a calculator, my total says I am being fucked out of $3600.00, and I ain't even the one fucking the Amazing pussy in the apartment above you!"

"I'm going to have to break it off." The words left me before I knew that I spoke them out loud.

"Please do! I don't know how much longer I can pretend to talk about payment arrangements with Lori. You need to break it off or stand your ground because there is free pussy around every corner and I do mean no money down and no monthly payments."

"I'm talking about breaking up with Lori and you want-."

"What?"

"You heard me." I felt relieved and ashamed at the same time. I had finally confessed something that took years in the making. Transition. It was pivotal until the heavy accusation from Shane.

"You're really trying to kill your Mama?"

* * *

A/N: I am still here! Still writing. Still proofreading and falling asleep doing so. Trust! I haven't given up!


	10. Flirting Inside Of Apartment 209

"Flirting is a promise of sexual intercourse without a guarantee."  
**― Milan Kundera, The Unbearable Lightness of Being**

* * *

"Lori's my first love. My first everything. Becoming a deputy is a choice, and my mother has been fully supportive of Lori and me living together. My mom has always wanted a daughter and for me to follow my dreams. My Dad, on the other hand, remains adamant that I get a few things out of my system. One of them being Lori and the other, law enforcement. He wants me to date other women and follow in his footsteps. He still believes that Shane and I were switched out at birth. We share the same month, day, year, and hospital stay, Shane and I."

"Wow! So, you've been with Lori for how long?" I had asked sitting on my kitchen counter next to my fruit basket that Rick had caught me swiping from the front of someone's apartment door. I had winked at him and kept it moving. Best fruit ever. Expensive, free and sweet.

"Over nine years." He responded.

"She's a fool."

"How so?"

"After nine years and you are still not married? Not a good sign if you were to ask any sane person for their take. I was with my ex for four, and it was foolish. Time wasted. Mostly. Mostly not." I shrugged.

"Technically, I don't care what other people think. I do what I want, and I have been doing what I want." He responded adamantly.

"I'm calling it now. You are so not going to marry her, and I hope she kicks your ass for having wasted her time. I mean, I would."

"You would what?"

"Kick your ass."

"Did you fight the guy you spent four years with?"

"I would have if he had me believe he wanted to get married. My guy didn't want to get married, and I bounced. Simple. I wasn't completely delusional. White women are very outer space in their thought process, evident with waiting nine damn years to find out she still isn't going to walk down the aisle anytime soon or at least not with you." I was strangely overly confident.

"Not true."

"Bet. 200.00?"

"Bet?"

"I am feeling lucky. I am going to be 200.00 short on the rent and winning this bet would be such a relief, you have no idea."

"You are already late with the rent. Tomorrow I will have to put the eviction notice up."

"Not if I win that bet."

"I'm not planning on getting married to Lori tomorrow."

"Pay up."

"What?"

"Really, do you see yourself married to the same person you've dated since high school, though? Wait, you are a typical white male who has to have his perfect girlfriend with an anorexic body that she will fight to maintain after having your 2.5 kids. You will wake up one day and realize you have more of an imagination you have never given your self credit for or a chance to utilize. Trust me. I know about these things."

"Are you finished?"

"Yes."

He was surprised at what I had said. He searched my eyes for his own way to bridge his own question about my personal situation. I watched the subtle hues that slightly lit his skin.

"I sense there is a loaded question that even you can't seem to form, and once you figure it out, I wonder if I will be as uncomfortable as you are in responding to me."

"My mother has already told me."

I felt violated, and his response was too callous for my liking. This bit of knowledge only increased my hate and distrust of the landlord, his mother, Ms. Ella.

"Not surprised."

"She told me to beware of you and your accusations of faulty pipes. She said anything else I would have to learn on my own."

"Pipes?" I was surprised.

"Yeah. I can tell you have been tinkering around with it."

"You can?" I couldn't hide my fake amazement, which seemed to amuse him.

Somehow he was becoming more attractive and exciting than I had ever originally had given credit. I think it had more to do with his stance in my kitchen. The way he cocked his head to the side, or the nervous tic he had with his hands.

"Your mother owns these expensive apartments. Your Dad is the CEO of Go Stop, and you wanna play cops and robbers? Are you a pipe detective accusing me of tampering?"

"You have been tampering. You haven't denied it."

"I don't have the tools to tamper."

"I'm quite sure you are resourceful."

My adrenaline was high, as was my self-awareness when looking directly into his eyes. He had long finished the issue I had with my dishwasher and the garbage disposal without once seeming like he had anywhere he needed to be or other business to attend.

"Have you ever been with a black woman?"

"No. Why do you ask?"

"Have you ever thought about it?"

"No."

His lie caused me to verify his response by glancing down at the noticeable bulge in his pants.

"Doesn't mean I have anything against it." His excuse to what was evident. "Why are you asking me a hundred questions? Do you like white guys?"

"Ninety-nine percent of the time, no. You are probably the only one I would make an exception for."

"You are the only black woman I have ever stumbled upon to be so forward."

"Do you want an apple?" I took a bite of the apple I grabbed from the fruit basket.

The apple was in between my teeth and lips. I didn't expect him to step forward and take it from me. I had no idea why he did, but he did. I knew instinctively that once he swallowed we would be lip-locked without any fruit barrier between us as a choking hazard.

"I was offering you an apple from the basket," I whispered.

"Oh."

* * *

A/N: CORRECTIONS MADE.


	11. I Can't Afford Her

_"If a man, who says he loves you, won't tell you the details of a private conversation between him and another woman, you can be sure he is not protecting your heart. He is protecting himself and the woman he has feelings for. Wise women simply see things as they are, not as their low self-esteem allows."_

**― Shannon L. Alder**

* * *

"I can't have you scratching and sucking on me. And you've given me no other choice, but to go to this position-." The quickness in which she moved her hip caused me to lose my train of thought. "Damn, not yet. Not yet. Slow down. Not yet. Not yet. Not like that. I'm going to need to slip on a condom, Chonne, or I will have to flip you over. Don't make me flip you around. Oh, I fucking see what you are doing. Oh my god. Oh my god. Yes. Yeah. Fuck me. Fuck me..."

I ejaculated in and outside of her. I couldn't help nor stop it. Something about her, about Michonne, kept me seeping or exploding. It was only that one night where I reached out to her on a whim. It was between the second and third transactions. I mean, I was thirty-six hundred dollars in the hole and climbing. I had to make a decision to make the woman in Apartment 209 all mine before someone came along and could truly afford her inability to pay her rent, food, and car maintenance. That thought alone kept me unable to get it up for both women after awhile. Luckily, Michonne enjoyed cuddling and cunnilingus more than any woman I knew, and I only had experience with Lori.

"So, where does that leave us, Rick?" Lori asked after being hit with the news I had provided from my own mouth.

"She manipulated you." My mother charged. "I want her out of here."

"This is her notice.." I handed my mother the thirty-day notice.

"Good!" My mother snatched the notice out of my hand. She was angry and near tears. "I will leave you two to work through this if you can. I am very, very, disappointed in you, Richard Sinclaire Grimes! I thought you would be different than your father. You of all people know how your very own father left and with whom. You were a teenager when our world came crashing down around us. Make it right with Lori, or I swear nothing good will come of your fling with the other one who lies and lies in apartment 209."

The moment my mother made her exit without dying, I was relieved until the sound of sniffles coming from four feet away. We were officially alone. The silence would have been more bearable.

"Does she plan to keep the baby?" Lori followed up her questioning.

"I'm going to be a father." I nodded.

"Our wedding is in two weeks, Rick. I need to know what does this mean for us?"

"Two weeks?" I was startled by the little amount of time left before Lori and I would have finally walked down the aisle.

"You never went to your suit fittings. You never responded to any of my texts. Our conversations have always been one-sided on if we would marry or not."

"Two weeks?"

"Has it always been you?"

"Been me what?" I was still stuck at two weeks.

"You were scheduled to fix something in her apartment. I could almost hear you both. Almost crystal clear when I realized it was you. She made a bet with you. A 200.00 bet. A few days later two hundred was taken from our account. What exactly was the bet about?"

"About?" I wasn't prepared with a response. It seemed like forever ago. For the briefest of seconds, I couldn't connect the dots to why it mattered when I wanted to end things with Lori. Details did not matter, especially something as random as a bet more than four months ago.

"How about answering this, Rick," Lori was clearly frustrated with me and my inability to formulate a coherent thought or string a sentence or two together, "When did you stop loving me?"

_The moment I willingly got another woman pregnant? _Instead, I remained silent. I watched Lori pack her bags to stay with my mom. I avoided Michonne physically. I remained connected to her by text.

_What are you doing?_

**Michonne:** Looking for us a house like you told me too!

_I want to be with you!_

**Michonne:** Then be with me. What's stopping you?

_Nothing. After today, I am all yours._

**Michonne:** I can't believe I am Mrs. Grimes!

_Never doubt me, Michonne. Now, tell me about what you found?_

**Michonne**: I found the most perfect place. Well, two. I want you to decide. I'm excited!

_ Yeah?_

**Michonne**: Four Bedrooms.

_ Four?_

**Michonne**: Should I look for 5?

_Four is good._

**Michonne:** Do you think you can come and take a look at it?

_Tomorrow. Anytime. How much for it?_

**Michonne: **The one I love is 1.5m and the second one, I'm quite sure we can talk them down.

_ok_

I didn't want to but I had too, especially when my debit card was declined inside of a gas station. Lucky for me, My Dad hadn't changed his phone number like he had threatened he would, and he instantly knew who was calling when he answered with no greeting or small talk. I had no idea where he was in the world at large but it was clear based on our optimal cellular connection. He was stateside.

"Yes, son?"

"Dad, I'm in a situation."

"Consisting of what?"

"Another woman." I was more than ashamed to admit. The apple did not roll down the hill away from the barrel as my mother touted for years when it came to any comparison between my father and me.

"Ah! and you call Dear old Dad because?"

"I can't afford her."

"Is she worth it?"

"Every damn penny. Lori cleaned the accounts and I can't make enough money as a Deputy to keep the other woman."

"Ah! You are among the rest of the barely scraping by to make ends meet. Living beyond one's means is no way to live. Either way, how do you know the other woman won't adjust or accept the circumstances of your piss poor choices?"

"Because she said so."

There was no way I was going to repeat verbatim what was actually said by Michonne. I wasn't sure my Father would necessarily disagree and it was still something I couldn't necessarily wrap my head around about she would rather struggle with a black man than to attach herself to a white guy who was okay with robbing Peter to pay Paul.


	12. Knock Knock or Bang Bang

"Fuck it,' I hear him mutter, and the next thing I know he's taking hold of my hand."  
**― Samantha Towle, Trouble**

* * *

_"I expected you to get the apple from the basket," I whispered._

_"Oh."_

I had a tasty free fruit basket on one side of me and his toolbox on the other. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would be lip-locked with my Landlord's son, Rick, who was inside of my apartment to repair what I deemed faulty plumbing.

There was a momentary pause between us. A slight hesitation once Rick chewed then swallowed my piece of ambrosia apple that was technically for my consumption. We never once broke eye contact with each other as he inched closer, and as if magnetic, I eagerly met him halfway. We were kissing. Soon my legs opened like an elevator door because his lips were pushing the right buttons to easily have me naked and on the floor. Our crazy energy made it very blatant and abundantly clear we were going to take it there, if not then, at some point. The slight brush of his hard-on against my lower knee awakened a need to connect with someone. There I was still propped up on my kitchen counter, hungrily kissing away any semblance of rational thinking in any shape or form.

Five minutes into our makeout session his walkie talkie brought us back to our senses.

Our three-month arrangement turned into an entanglement that neither of us could extricate. Our entanglement began the moment he couldn't just accept what was in the contract without full disclosure to all parties. I was trying many times to block and delete, but he knew exactly where I lived, right above him.

Knock, knock, knock!

I swung open my door and my words quickly fell from my lips. One thing I couldn't hide was my annoyance with our little arrangement after his good dick aura wore off.

"Go away! I am not in the moo..." I lost my train of thought at the sight of him. I realized Rick had to have used his foot or his head to bang on my door. His hands were full. He was holding a bouquet of flowers and a pizza box.

"Hey."

"Hey, yourself."

He was more than likely expecting me to oooh and aah over flowers and pizza. I did not. I did not step aside. I wasn't going to allow him to cross my threshold and ease me back into bed with him. It was going to take a lot more than what he was offering right then and there.

"I thought we could chill. Netflix. I have time tonight." His voice lowered on each word he spoke until it was almost a whisper. I didn't strain to hear him because nothing he was offering was enticing, not even the seductive look he was trying to throw my way. He noticed what I had on. I wasn't wearing, let's chill in my apartment clothing. I was going out.

"You thought wrong."

"Did I do something?"

"No. I am doing something."

"What's that?"

"Going on a date."

"With who?"

"Someone who wants to be seen with me in the light of day. No hiding necessary."

"Who?"

"Someone who knows my worth."

"Meaning?"

"I want someone to spend time with me outside of my apartment. Do you plan to stand in the way of that, Rick?"

"Who is he?"

"Does it matter if it is not you?"

"Are you trying to make me jealous?"

"I'm trying to get you to understand it stops."

"It?"

"Right here, and right now."

"3600 dollars, Michonne!"

"And?"

"What in the fuck do you mean it stops?" He shifted his weight.

I was livid. I was pissed to the high heavens. My purse was near the door and I had turned to grab it and Rick boldly took 10 steps inside to put the pizza and the flowers on the counter. He was going to plant himself in my apartment. It had worked a few other times. Not this time. He could stay. I was leaving.

"I don't have time to explain. I have a date. Over at the Alexandria Plaza. A five-minute walk. The movie starts in forty minutes. My date knows I am open to a nice restaurant, too."

"What do you expect me to do, Michonne? You are ripping my heart out right now."

I refused to be swayed. "Not my problem."

I proceeded to walk out of my own apartment with him eventually trailing behind before he eventually began to walk side by side in silence. What should have been a brisk five-minute walk took us 10 minutes because of our constant stop, talk, walk, talk, walk off without the other but still in the same direction.

"I have to break things off with Lori." Rick caught up with me again, slowing me down by grabbing my arm.

"Is that what you want to do, Rick?"

"I want to be with you. I just have to find some way to break it to Lori."

"I could call her and speed things along. Luckily for you, I am not that type of person. I am not messy even though I am heart deep."

"Yeah?" He was surprised.

"I want what we have out in the open. I deserve that." I revealed my desire to modify our agreement.

"I want that too. I just have to figure out a way to tell, Lori."

"In the meantime, get away from me. I want to watch a movie, not ponder your inability to break up with your fiancee."

"If I get away from you then you won't have a date tonight."

"How so?"

"Whoever you plan to meet up with at the movies is a Deadman, Michonne."

"Really?" I was flabbergasted.

"Fuck yeah, _really._ Problem?"

He was utterly confusing me with his possessiveness and he still had a whole ass fiancee that was determined to get him down the aisle. His self-assuredness was sexy. If we were inside of my apartment, his dominating behavior would have me out of my panties yet, again.

"No problem, Rick."

I was surprised that he took my hand and we continued walking in the direction of Alexandria's commercial area with shops, restaurants, and a large movie theatre.

We were close to our location. Our first date out in the open, when Rick turned to me and asked, "After I kick his ass, what are we here to see?"

"The movie is called, Let's Get Married."

* * *

A/N: I am still tinkering away. I want to put this baby to bed with a few more chapters. Maybe two more after this one. I know this is utterly silly but I am amused by how each chapter connects and reveals just a bit more than the chapter/scene portrayed.


	13. What's My Name?

"What a gift we've been given to feel such a conflicting intensity of pleasure! All at once, we feel invigorated during a massive release of built-up intention and anxiety. Both lovers hidden in our own little pockets of private pleasure, and quite possibly the most visible we can ever be in our lives."

**― Roberto Hogue**

* * *

_When did you stop loving me, Rick?"_

I stood there speechless. It was the biggest epiphany I had ever experienced all while sober.

I was becoming more reckless than ever with Michonne. The sex between us was amazing. I wasn't going to stop especially not when it was getting better and better and Better with Michonne in comparison.

"What's my name?"

I tore my attention that lingered from her dark tits to the area below her belly button. My breath caught trying to stave off my coming too quickly and her insistent request wasn't going to help the situation. What I was feeling, experiencing, was mounting and increasing for no one else but Michonne.

"Say my name, Rick. Say it so I can come with you baby. What's my name?" She whined and wound me into an almost epileptic frenzy. More and more I became winded.

"Michonne. Yes. Michonne. Michonne. Oh my god, Michonne."

She was riding me with no mercy or consideration in lowering her volume. She didn't give a damn if we were heard through the walls and vent ducts. And by any other name, we could have been anyone if we weren't directly above my very own apartment fucking each other's brains' out. There was absolutely no way to pretend it was all a coincidence. No deniability.

"Mmmm, baby, again baby, what's my name? Who's giving it to you good? Huh, Rick? Who's giving it to you good baby?"

Her name was warped and strangled and twisted in my throat. I couldn't hold back especially with her crying out mine less than two seconds later.

Michonne became the love of my life at least my dick believed it first, my head above my shoulders didn't need any further convincing. Swift and utter acceptance pounded in my chest.

I was drained. I wanted nothing more than to fall asleep. Instead, I was startled and kept awake by Michonne's constant nudging as I was trying to doze.

"Wake up!"

"Why?"

"Because you don't live here to sleep here?"

"I pay the damn rent, don't I?"

"My rent. Not our rent. Big difference. Now wake up and get out of here."

"What is going on?"

"How about you tell me, Rick?"

"What do you want to know exactly?"

"Are you going to marry Lori?"

"Highly unlikely, don't you think?"

"NO would have been a better response."

"No." I snapped back.

"I've drafted up my thirty-day notice."

"What?"

"I'm moving."

"How? With what?"

"I found a small house. I've put down a deposit. I-."

"Don't you need a job, Michonne? Time on a job?" I pointed out the obvious.

"I'm moving. Get over it."

"I don't have a problem with you moving out, Michonne. I have a problem with you springing this on me like it doesn't matter to me that you are moving. You moving, matters."

"There. On the nightstand is my thirty-day notice. I am serious. The longer I stay, the more obvious it will be."

"_Obvious_ you can't pay the rent or what's going on between us?"

"I paid my own rent last month." Michonne reminded.

"But this month?" I questioned what she plan to have since the rent was due the next day.

"I had to use the money for the deposit to move elsewhere."

Now she fucking tells me?

"My mother will keep your deposit, you know?" I tossed a thinly veiled threat. One thing I knew for sure, Michonne did not like my mother because she expected the rent like any other landlord. My mother didn't necessarily like Michonne, and it had everything to do with her inability to pay the rent on time. My mother would be devastated by the news that I broke things off with Lori.

"Of course! Why would I expect anything less from your mother?"

"Any landlord, Michonne. I can't keep fronting your rent. Something has to give."

"Like?"

"I'm tired of trying to explain the same things over and over and over. I'm tired."

"I'm not."

"Obviously." We began our stare down.

"I think you need to leave."

"When I'm rested," I told her. I wasn't budging, not until she told me where she was moving and exactly when. I didn't necessarily trust Michonne. She was someone that would disappear and never be heard from again. The thought of losing her caused an elevated level of anxiety now that I was aware of her intentions. "I'm here, Michonne because I want to be here. I'm not ready to leave."

Michonne had finally laid back but not close to me, where she was just moments before trying to keep me from falling asleep in her bed. I heard her mumble a few things, but one statement she made was crystal clear.

"I deserve better than this."

"Can it get any better?"

"What?"

I struck a nerve. I wasn't going to back off just because she was working herself into a foul mood or to maintain a degree of discontent.

"Seriously, can it get any better between us?"

"I have never been able to gauge outside of my apartment, Rick."

"What does this between us have to do with outside your apartment?"

"Nothing can grow in the dark. Well maybe mold but still."

"What?"

"I would like to see and be out and not hidden. I need the light of day. Sun, clear skies, rainy ones are okay too. I want more than sex. I want to go on a date."

"I want that too." I had admitted.

"When?"

"I can get away tomorrow?"

"Seriously?"

"Yeah. Seriously."

"Where's Lori going to be."

I shrugged, "Not with us."

"Welcome back, Mr. Weasel."

"Why am I weasel?"

"Because you are. This is our last sexing session. I deserve better and more than this. Covering all my bases. I want you to have a full idea of my expectations. Right now, this isn't it."

I was silent. My heart wasn't. What had happened was, I had fallen in love with Michonne nine pillow talks ago. I was wrapped around her finger. It was apparent the moment she waited for me to handcuff her for the stolen tires. I didn't. I didn't pursue the complaint made down at the apartment office about the stolen fruit basket, nor did I snitch on her regarding the missing peanut butter granola bar she swiped from the maintenance area that belonged to Morgan, the apartment handyman.

"What do you have to say for yourself?"

"I don't want to stop what we are doing."

She was silent. I glanced over at her in hopes she would share her thoughts or allow me to continue. She wasn't forthcoming.

"I've never met anyone like you, Michonne. It scares me too."

"It's not fair, Rick."

"I know it's not fair to Lori and that's the part I."

"Fair to Lori!?"

"Any louder, Michonne?"

"My volume is NOT THE PROBLEM RICK!"

It was the truth. My problem wasn't the volume. Admission. I had to admit I had a preference from what had developed unexpectedly with the woman in Apt 209. I was more than in love with her, I was officially her husband which happened on our first date.

"Where is he?" I had asked. I was suspicious of every man that glanced our way. There were quite a few men who didn't hide the fact they were checking Michonne out were on my radar. I just needed to know which one to confront.

"Where is who?"

"Your date."

"You are my date, silly!" She giggled.

The angry fire died immediately when I searched her eyes and found warmth wrapped in unguarded truth.

"What's the name of the movie again?" I was mesmerized by being so close and engrossed in seeing her in the new light she was bathed in, happy.

"Let's Get Married."

Only then did the crowd of people begin to make sense. Some were dressed as casual as we were and a few in tux and wedding gowns. Marriage license and an officiant standing two feet from a booth manned by people accepting and paying for licenses to get married in a mass group. The movie had caused a trend. I was unaware of it at the time.

"Are you asking?"

"Are you willing?"

* * *

A/N: Purposely ambiguous. Final Chapter coming up.


	14. Eavesdropper

_"I shouldn't have eavesdropped, but sometimes, that's the only way to find out the truth."_  
**― Jodi Picoult, Handle with Care**

* * *

I had fallen in love with him. Everything about him, his mannerism, his kindness, his self-assuredness, including his possessiveness. We had a jam-packed three and a half hours the day we were married outside of the movie theatre. We were officially husband and wife, and we were so I thought, completely broke.

After he had purchased our two gold bands and we had said our_ 'I do's'_, we eventually walked over to the nearest restaurant. We were in a nicely lit booth in the corner where we kissed and fed each other at every mouth swallowing interval. Once we had finished our dinner, Rick's credit card came back declined. Not once did he look over at me to assist with our dilemma. He had claimed to have no other option when he opted for his never used before American Express Black card that he carried in his wallet. One swipe and our lavish meal became more digestible.

Married. We were awestruck and heart eyes for each other as we began our walk back to where we came but not before pausing in front of a jewelry store window where I gawked at one of the most beautiful diamond bridal ring settings.

"You see something better than what we have?" He had asked jokingly.

I did, but while looking into his eyes, there wasn't anything better than our plain bands. We couldn't keep our hands off of each other. Lori had not once crossed my mind while we were in bed, making love like we hadn't just had sex the day before our date.

I was resting my head on Rick's chest while he spoke to his father. Rick had his father on speakerphone.

_"Yes, son?"_

_"Dad, I'm in a situation."_

_"Consisting of what?"_

_"Another woman." _

"I'm your wife," I tried to whisper. He gave me a look to caution me.

_"Ah! and you call your Dear old Dad because?"_

_"I can't afford her."_

_"Is she worth it?"_

_"Every damn penny. The reason for my call is that, well, Dad, Lori cleaned the accounts, and I can't make enough money as a Deputy to keep the other woman."_

"I'm your wife," I spoke slightly above a whisper. He'd again gave me another look.

_"Ah! You are among the rest of the barely scraping by to make ends meet. Living beyond one's means is no way to live. Either way, how do you know the other woman won't adjust or accept the circumstances of your piss poor choices?"_

_"Because she said so. I had to use the American Express. I know what comes with using it, Dad. I'm calling because I am ready to go to work for you."_

I was fired up. I was still reduced to the _other woman, she and her_. HER has a damn name damn it! Michonne Suzanne Grimes, who was going to divorce this secretive asshole by morning. I shoved him and got out of my own bed to grab all of his clothes to toss at him.

"What is your problem now?" He had the phone covered not to be overheard.

I was too pissed to speak.

"I am glad to know your rebellion has ended. You found someone who seems mature compared to Lori, which caused you, in turn, to wisen up because you are not a teenager anymore, sticking it to your old man. I am pleased with the fact that you playing cops and robbers will come to an end."

"I just have to turn in my badge by morning."

"Very well, son. I will notify the board of directors. I will have two attorneys sitting in for the voting and whatnot. All I ask is make me proud to have you in my seat. When should I expect you to report to Go Stop?"

"After my honeymoon. I married her. Michonne Suzanne Benton is now a Grimes. We got married five hours ago."

I went from a ready roaring lion to a purring kitten within seconds.

"Married? Did your mother survive this?"

"You are the first to know. It will be televised in two days."

"You finally did something that could test whether it would kill your mother. All the wedding talk I'm surprised I didn't hear anything about it being canceled. Either way, when do I get the chance to meet my new daughter in law?"

"Hi, Dad!" I exclaimed. I had so much to be happy about, and one of them I hadn't considered was a honeymoon. I didn't care that my eyes were like saucers and remained that way when his Dad responded. This was the most naked I had ever seen my husband, quickly veiled by modesty since we were both completely naked and covered in each other's dried sex juices.

"Everyone calls me, Senior! Nice to meet you! Son, put us on facetime so I can see who you've made into a Grimes."

* * *

She invited, Lori?" My husband, Rick, asked.

I could tell from his facial expression this was a surprise, and for the life of me, I couldn't understand how? Regardless, his eyes were the size of saucers upon seeing, what I was watching walk into his mother Ella's home a few minutes ahead of us. We were in the Hamptons.

"You know damn well who invited Lori to Thanksgiving." I snapped. I watched him swallow. "I was there when you inserted foot in mouth." I reminded.

"Are you mad at Daddy, Mommy?" Carlton asked from directly behind the driver seat.

"Of course, not," I reassured.

"Of course, she is."

"I am not. See, I am getting out of the car. If I were mad, I would not get out of the car. I would instead demand you take us all back home. I'm not doing that because-I'm. Not. Mad. Grab the diaper bag, Rick!"

"My mother said she invited Lori. I said, okay. Like not okay. It was in my voice. How is it only you can hear the difference is beyond me. Besides, how was I to know Lori would show up?"

"Your response should have been, see you next Thanksgiving Mom or Have a nice Thanksgiving Mom or here's one-"

Rick interrupted my rant. "I've got RJ and the diaper bag. I've got the twins unbuckled. You can go on ahead of me with Carlton since you are not-mad. Now, if you admit you are, I am more than willing to drive all twenty damn hours back to where we came from."

"Really?" I challenged.

My husband was going to overcompensate, overextend, and overexert himself. We just had to get through Thanksgiving. Chances were good that we would leave and get back on the road going towards home. I was seven months pregnant and nine steps ahead of him. I had already made up my mind; it was going to be our last holiday spent outside of our home unless it was his mother's funeral. Thanksgiving will be spent in our home in Georgia, but instead, here I was sitting across from Lori, who kept her eyes on my husband while he kept his eyes focused on our children or his very own plate. Eight years of marriage, this would be our Thanksgiving to remember.

I quietly contemplated a headache or a pregnancy issue which would have Rick pack up the kids, and we would head to the car. I did neither of those things. I was prepared to grin and bear it since we were staying through Christmas, and Lori would be leaving soon enough that evening. What could a few hours of Lori matter to eight years? Well, a lot. Not to Rick or me necessarily but to the orchestrator.

Only Senior cut to the chase while the majority of Rick's extended family were in the other room conversing after dinner was served. He was holding RJ.

"Why is Lori here, Ella?"

"Same reason you are here, Senior. A simple invitation. Thanksgiving. Time to share and give thanks. You are always welcome, but not any of your female companions."

"I am here because of our Grandchildren. Lori is here because?"

"I invited her, and your son Rick said it was _okay._"

"What?" Senior looked towards me for an answer to such an absurdity that I was privy with first-hand knowledge. "You were_ okay_ with this, Michonne?"

"I am very familiar _with_, and _when_ my dear husband says okay. His okay wasn't the okay that he was okay, but the okay that he wasn't sure why_ she_ would think_ he_ would be _okay._ It was that type of okay, okay, OkAY?" I sought approval from Rick that I had it right.

"That type of okay doesn't exist, and if anyone knows, that is _Ella_!"

Senior and I agreed. It felt great.

"Well, my dear husband didn't believe Lori would show up. Her continued absence meant all would be well." I sighed.

I didn't allow the man I married to read more than what was there when I gave him the two-way baby monitor, and he was straining to determine my level of annoyance. I took the extra monitor with me upstairs to where we planned to have our children sleep later that evening. I kept giving Rick faces that he wasn't necessarily reacting to, but he was watching me watch him. It was while in the spare room did I hear everything. The conversation continued without my presence.

"When will you accept the fact our son has a wife and his own family, and it does not or ever will include Lori?"

"She needs closure."

"If you keep it up, Ella, it won't include you. Do you understand?"

"There are two people who need closure." Ella's voice was insistent and conspiratorial.

"She or you, Mom?"

"Not your job to facilitate it!" Senior snapped.

"I didn't go seeking Lori out! I ran into her at the airport. I asked how she was spending her Thanksgiving. I invited—no harm in that. Plus, with the way things happened with their wedding. Lori was like a daughter to me. She waited nine years and for our son to have thrown it all away for someone else in a short period. Never too late for an apology."

"They have been married eight years now! Ella! My God, the older you get, the more insufferable you've become, do you know that? Do you care? Four kids later, you would think your mother would let it go and move on. I applaud Michonne for not telling our son to take her and our grandkids back home the very moment she saw Lori."

"I've apologized. Mom, if I knew for one moment you were going to keep harping on this, I would not have come and subjected my wife to feel a certain way. Lori and I are over. A closed chapter. And it is with great restraint that I don't pack my family up and leave in the morning. The drive here was long, but I don't necessarily need Michonne to tell me when she has had enough. What I will say, don't count on us for next Thanksgiving, nor Christmas."

"Hey! You guys are congregating in the kitchen?"

"Lori?"

"Everyone is waiting for dessert. Your son, Carl, is very front and center. Cake, Cake, Cake! He is a definite cutie! RJ is handsome, and your twin girls are absolutely adorable!"

"Carlton?" Rick corrected. "Jasmine and Judith."

"Oh, dear! Help me, Senior! Put RJ down and grab those two pies. I've got the cake."

"Anything I can help with?" Lori offered.

"No, Dear. No worries, Michonne is upstairs."

_Michonne? How about saying, HIS Wife!? I thought, and Rick read them when he spoke._

_"My wife _is upstairs."

"Very good son." Senior spoke.

"Let's hurry along, Senior."

The silence was brief. My heart raced; I had to sit down on one of the full-size bed that was designated for our son Carlton. I had the volume up. I wasn't going to miss a word spoken.

"Hi, Rick."

"Hi, Lori."

"How are you?"

"Good! You?"

"I'm great! I'm still in New York working. When I'm not there I'm between Tennessee and Texas."

"Racehorses?"

"Still one of my many passions. How about you?"

"Not much time for passions. I'm still juggling Go Stop or home with Michonne and the kids."

_I shrugged. It was the truth._

"Did I count four?"

"And counting. I wanted a football team, but I think I've changed my mind just very recently. I want a basketball plus a football team."

_Rick glanced at me looking at him as if he had lost his damn mind. He wore a smirk. I wore a frown._

"Really?"

"I'm aiming for two football teams. I love pregnant Michonne."

_My husband was horny, the last part was true. The first part was on ignore._

"Wow! You both will need the help of several nannies!"

"There is no way I can convince my wife of hiring a nanny. We will both be hands-on."

"Sounds very exhausting."

"What I have planned for Michonne isn't for the faint of heart. The reason we are so good together."

_What are you smoking, honey?_

"You."

"Was that a question?" Lori's voice seemed caught off guard as was I.

Rick cleared his throat. "You?"

"I don't have any children. Recently divorced after four years of marriage. He wanted children. I didn't.

"He?"

"Spencer."

"Do I know him?"

_Should you care?_

"Curious if I know him."

_I repeated, enunciating the words I silently mouthed. Should. You. Care? My husband was an expert in reading my lips and mind at this point in our marriage. He had plenty of practice and he was almost at an expert level._

"He was two years behind us in Highschool. He had the biggest crush on me back then."

"Highschool?"

"He had messaged me on Facebook. It was after I had spent the first three years after our break up in therapy. It was in the fourth year I was open to finding love and moving forward with my life. I have no regrets."

"I have no regrets, Lori. I'm sorry how things worked out for you. Sincerely I do. Even with having to juggle work and being home to help with our kids, I can't help feeling very lucky to have found someone who wants and expects the same thing."

"I never expected to be cheated on, Rick."

"I never wanted to marry someone who didn't want children, Lori."

"Is this how you justify?"

"No. My point is and I am not trying to open up a wound, it just wouldn't have worked between us either. Did I go about it the wrong way, yes? I've already apologized for all that I have put you through."

"We had a history. To end us over having a house full of kids seem ludicrous. I mean after you have worked all day and then to expect you to come home and take care of kids that-."

"That I asked for. That I wanted. We wanted. Michonne is an attorney at Go Stop. She is far from a stay at home mother. Well, up until now. Close to the due date and any and everything she does is within reason. Like two football teams would be out of the question right about now."

_Damn right, baby. We are not two mice that don't know when to say when._

"Still a weasel." He confirmed aloud.

He was unabashedly horny. Trying to weasel his way back into my granny panties.

"What?" Lori was questioning his remark.

"Nothing."

"You've changed. I would have never imagined this life for you. I remember you wanted to be anything but the CEO of Go Stop or have any children for that matter."

"That's because the job was dangled in front of me like a carrot. To take the opportunity, I had to stop seeing you, and at the time, I wanted whatever you wanted, Lori. You didn't want kids. You made sure of that. Twice. We were both so stupidly rebellious. Immature. I grew up."

_I didn't know about the two abortions. It made me feel his pain at his admission and Lori's lack of denial._

"We allowed it to carry on for nine years. Nine years, Rick. Only now am I realizing how incompatible we would have been if we had taken the plunge." Lori admitted.

"Honestly, my intentions were never meant to hurt you."

"I could hear you guys having sex. I was devastated. I had the canceled wedding to deal with along with my family, your family, and the humiliation of it all."

"I would hope the money you had taken from me was more than enough to ease the pain I had caused."

"I was angry and hurt Rick and Nothing I did seem to faze you. Not even the money I had taken?"

"I wasn't going to fight you over it, Lori. It was time I grew up. Face the reality that we weren't the same people in high school and in college. At least I wasn't. I wanted kids. You didn't. In my mom's eyes, I am the bad guy. I'm the asshole. I've carried that for you, Lori and I do so because I know the truth and that gives me peace. I fell in love with someone who I'm still crazy about to this day. I can't imagine anything changing that. Rehashing the past won't change that or the way everything played out for you and me."

"I wouldn't necessarily call you a bad guy, but you were certainly an asshole."

"Asshole?"

"You married her before breaking up with me, silly."

_I was surprised by the lightness in Lori's tone. _

"Timing makes me an asshole or that I married someone else in a short period?"

_Why are you seeking clarification?_

"Very romantic and traumatizing to see it televised on the local news a few days later. I could hardly believe what I was seeing."

"Yeah. About that..."

_Yeah, about that? What about it? Finish that sentence. Don't stop. Don't trail off._

"Lori, my wife is on her way down here. She isn't shy. She likes to confront and I suggest you get a slice of cake."

If he hadn't turned off the baby monitor, I would have allowed him and Lori their time for closure. His actions caused me to show my face in the kitchen. I wanted to know what he was going to say about our impromptu wedding outside of the movie theatre. I wasn't aware he was trying to forewarn Lori without ruining a planned surprise.

"What?" I had asked, surprised to see no Lori insight.

"What?" Rick responded.

"What were you going to say?"

"Weasel has said enough. I realized I don't owe any explanation to someone other than the woman I am trying to keep sexing."

"We are in your mother's home, Richard Sinclaire Grimes!"

"So?"

"Where did I find you?" He was incorrigible.

"At my mother's apartment building. You kept flirting with me. You had me thinking I was one damn sexy weasel after awhile. Convinced me to pay your rent, put a 150.00 ring on it. Eight years, and four kids later with one due in less than two months, I had never forgotten the ring you really wanted when we stood outside that Jewelry store. I wanted to wait until our tenth year anniversary, but..."

I was in shock. Rick revealed a small black velvet box and there my original ring was removed by him and replaced with the new ring. His whole extended family filled the kitchen area, all aware of what my husband had planned. Except for Lori.

"...I love you, Michonne Suzanne Grimes and let this and our children symbolize just how much."

* * *

"I love you."

Those three words gave me pause before leaving his office to go down the hall to my own.

"I love you too."

"If it's getting to be too much, Chonne just say the word."

"Which word is that, Rick?"

"The D-word Michonne that you don't like to discuss."

"Downsizing is not the answer to our problems, Rick."

"Then what is?"

"How can I be taken seriously around here if you are always coming to the rescue. Muzzling anyone who goes against me."

"I don't muzzle. I fire them."

"I need you to stop doing that."

"I will fail."

"A man who knows his shortcomings."

"A man who loves the hell out of you." He zipped his pants.

"Sex makes you putty."

"You make me putty."

I had to straighten my black Pencil Skirt before leaving his office. It was the only way to get him to act right and not be so friggin obvious that I belonged to him on or off the clock. He needed to be and remain neutral. When we got home I was going to introduce two N-words for him one to practice being or appearing and the one he would need an appointment. Neutral and Neutered.

I wasn't sure if he was going to notice the pregnancy test I had left on his desk before someone else came in and noticed but we were going to exceed a basketball team and I be damned if we were going any further after our bench warmer was born.

* * *

A/N: This has been so difficult to close out believe it or not. I cringe to look at the other stories waiting for completion. LoL. I hope this was a fun read. I will proofread later and make corrections as needed. On to completing the next story.


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